She'll adjusted her dress. Despite the emptiness of her title she was she was still considered a peer of the realm. As such she was expected to make the right impression.

To the men of power she was nothing more than a doll. A lovely little pawn to be moved in their games of power. Her grand uncle had done what he could to shield her from the machinations of the inner court, but he had allowed her to hold the reins of power in her small barony for too long. Her rule had weakened his and her grand uncle, the King of the Blood Forests, abdicated the throne after appointing her a proper regent.

Chelsea “Chel” Engel was dressed in the supposedly fashionable cage skirt popular among the dolls of the inner and outer courts waiting for her regent. Chel idly pictured herself as a bride waiting for her groom. The man’s appointment as her regent was close enough to that of an arranged marriage that the image brought her a degree of satisfaction, even as her temper flared.

“Chel, focus!” Ginny’s hiss brought Chel out of her thoughts and back to the entry hall she was standing in. The room was sparsely decorated by the standards of nobility. Perfectly polished wood floors, a brilliantly dyed rug in the center of the room and portraits of her grand uncle and her own family hanging in full view of the great door.

Chel was just about ready to greet her regent when the Great door opened suddenly by a strange man who allowed a pair of foot men carrying a trunk to enter before him. They set the trunk just inside the door as the strange man entered the room. He absently nodded to the footmen and gave them a polite “Thanks” as they left.

The man took off a strange looking rucksack and set it on the trunk before he walked up to Chel and held out his hand. “Hello, name’s Alex, Alexander West. I’m your regent. How do?”

Chel stood there confused. Her skin began to perspire as she realized he was who he claimed to be. Chel clenched her jaw as she took a deep breath. Who was this man that he thought he could invade home and insult her like this?

Ginny must have noticed Chel’s rising temper as she hastily broke protocol by asking, “Pardon me sir regent, but where is Lord Larchwood?”

“Larchwood? He seemed a bit indignant to have been given the honor of ferrying me here. I hope you don’t mind, I had him make up an excuse to leave right away because I didn’t want to deal with him.”

Chel relaxed a little. Isaac Larchwood was one of her worst suitors and a stickler for court protocol to boot. Ginny openly suspected that the man would be perfectly happy if she were to drop dead on their wedding night should the two ever get married. Chel tended to agree.

“Hello Alex. I am Chelsea. When protocol allows you may simply call me Chel. This is Genevieve, my handmaid and companion.”

Ginny gave the man a polite bow and added “Ginny.”

Chel watched as the man awkwardly fidgeted with his hand before he let it drop to his side and smiled before saying, “Awesome, mind if I get settled in then? I for one would like to get into something more comfortable before anything else. Would you send for me when it comes time for dinner?”